Normally I haven't been big on sub movies, heck or Navy movies in general. Lately I'm getting a bit of a thing for them. What with the strategic maneuvers, the tension of the crew, and the man vs. man and ship vs. ship aspect of the whole thing.

The Enemy Below is just one of those movies. After a lengthy (like 30 minutes!) bit of character development on board the US Destroyer, we finally get a glimpse of the adversary, a U-Boat headed for an important rendezvous.

Lets just put all the cards on the table here. There's a lot of the usual sub vs. ship maneuvering going on here. A lot of the usual, "If he's smart he'll..." or "He's smarter than I thought!" type of thing, eventually terminating with (and you may as well know) a draw. Yes, a draw. Nobody wins here today.

And that's the point I think. From the outset we're told from the viewpoint of both ships what a pointless exercise their being there is. And in the end, people and boats are lost....

...but honor is not. In an age where the enemy seemingly has no honor, its good to see that concepts like this once existed amongst rivals. If not in reality at least in fiction.

Catch this one on TV if you can, but I don't think I'd expend the greens otherwise.



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